Spasibo, Scott and Saber Strip Lights

I haven't attended a COMP group shoot since January of 2010 for personal reasons, but promised my friend, Tim, that I would attend if he put one together.  Tim worked really quick and within a week he had come up with a BYOB (Bring Your Own Background) COMP shoot. A two day event, one "On Location" in Clovis, CA and one in the Kerman Community Center.

With all the personal stuff going on, I messaged Tim a few days before the event and told him I wasn't going to attend.  As the event neared, I realized I had made a commitment to a friend and needed to follow through on my word. Usually I start promoting the event about a month in advance so we can get some quality models, however; this time I didn't have any time to beat the bushes.

On the day of the group shoot, C.J. and I left Bakersfield at 8:30 AM so we could arrive an hour and a half before the start of the event.  I called my friend, Brian, and he said he would be there by 11:00 AM.  We made pretty good time and arrived as planned only to find the clean-up crew still working.  I spoke with the on-site manager and she said the event wasn't scheduled to start until 2:00 PM. What The Heck!!! 2:00 PM!?!  After several calls, I screwed up and thought it started at Noon.  Nothing like hanging around the city of Kerman for three hours.

Tim arrived at 12:30 PM and we began rearranging the Community Center and setting up our gear.  For this shoot I brought my three Saber Strip Lights, a 40" brolly, an Alien Bee Ring Flash, and my Thunder Gray seamless Paper. For wardrobe I brought a gray Russian Military Fur hat and my gray London Fog Trench Coat.  I was hoping that the attending models would have some black lingerie.

After I finished setting up my set by 1:30 PM, I noticed that my seamless had several moving bumps.  I checked around and noticed that the A/C vent was blowing directly on the back of my seamless.  One more strike and I was packing it in.  At least the thermostat worked and the air flow would shut off long enough for me to get my shots done.

Pretty much a simple set-up, SB-600 in a Saber Strip for Rim, another SB-600 in a Saber Strip for Hair and the SB-900 in a 40" Brolly for key.  The power on the SB-900 and the SB-600s were set to 1/8th power.  All speedlights were triggered by my Pocket Wizard. This is the second shoot using the Saber Strip lights.  I have to admit that they are really cool and everyone asked about them.  After a shot or two with a model, I'd let the other photographers "chimp" and they definitely loved the quality of light and the ease of use the Saber Strip lights provide.  I kept getting questions about pricing and a Release Date.  Although, the creator didn't have me sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), I told them I couldn't divulge any information until they were released for public use, but that they could visit the website - http://www.saberstrip.com/ and that the initial price is $135.

I love shooting when Danielle attends, she does her own hair and make-up, and is ready to go.  After Danielle, I photographed Timillia using the same Saber Strip light set-up, and then noticed it was 4:00 PM, and time to pack it up.  So I drove 2 hours, spent another two hours sitting in a parking lot and then another two hours setting up and breaking down.

Overall, was it worth the drive and time?  You bet!!! as I was packing many of the models were bummed that they didn't get to work with me, but heck, that's how you build up demand, right?

So What did I Learn?

• Read the event schedule  - Nothing like wasting a few hours sitting on your hands
• Pack a Philips screwdriver.  I needed to make some adjustments to equipment and only had a common screwdriver in my bag.

After thanking Tim and the other attendees, we finally got on the road by 4:30 PM.  Not much post work on the images, so I had five of them posted within an hour of arriving home.  Shoot it "right" in the Camera and you have minimal post work out of the camera.  I have a couple more shoots coming up and then Help Portrait and That's A Wrap!!!